1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to medical devices incorporating shape memory alloys, and to improvements therein.
2. Introduction to the Invention
Materials, both organic and metallic, capable of possessing shape memory are well known. An article made of such materials can be deformed from an original, heat-stable configuration to a second, heat-unstable configuration. The article is said to have shape memory for the reason that, upon the application of heat alone, it can be caused to revert, or to attempt to revert, from its heat-unstable configuration to its original, heat-stable configuration, i.e. it "remembers" its original shape.
Among metallic alloys, the ability to possess shape memory is a result of the fact that the alloy undergoes a reversible transformation from an austenitic state to a martensitic state with a change in temperature. This transformation is sometimes referred to as a thermoelastic martensitic transformation. An article made from such an alloy, for example a hollow sleeve, is easily deformed from its original configuration to a new configuration when cooled below the temperature at which the alloy is transformed from the austenitic state to the martensitic state. The temperature at which this transformation begins is usually referred to as M.sub.s and the temperature at which it finishes M.sub.f. When an article thus deformed is warmed to the temperature at which the alloy starts to revert back to austenite, referred to as A.sub.s (A.sub.f being the temperature at which the reversion is complete) the deformed object will begin to return to its original configuration.
Many shape memory alloys (SMAs) are known to display stress-induced martensite (SIM). When an SMA sample exhibiting stress-induced martensite is stressed at a temperature above M.sub.s (so that the austenitic state is initially stable), but below M.sub.d (the maximum temperature at which martensite formation can occur even under stress) it first deforms elastically and then, at a critical stress, begins to transform by the formation of stress-induced martensite. Depending on whether the temperature is above or below A.sub.s, the behavior when the deforming stress is released differs. If the temperature is below A.sub.s, the stress-induced martensite is stable; but if the temperature is above A.sub.s, the martensite is unstable and transforms back to austenite, with the sample returning (or attempting to return) to its original shape. The effect is seen in almost all alloys which exhibit a thermoelastic martensitic transformation, along with the shape memory effect. However, the extent of the temperature range over which SIM is seen and the stress and strain ranges for the effect vary greatly with the alloy.
In the commonly assigned Quin U.S. Pat. No. 04505767, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, a nickel/titanium/vanadium alloy having SIM over a wide temperature range is disclosed.
Shape memory alloys have found use in recent years in, for example, pipe couplings (such as are described in Harrison and Jervis U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,035,007 and 4,198,081), electrical connectors (such as described in Otte and Fischer U.S. Pat. No. 3,740,839), switches (such as are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,205,293), actuators, etc.
Various proposals have also been made to employ shape memory alloys in the medical field. For example, Fannon et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,620,212 proposes the use of an SMA intrauterine contraceptive device, Johnson et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,786,806 proposes the use of an SMA bone plate, Wilson U.S. Pat. No. 3,890,977 proposes the use of an SMA element to bend a catheter or cannula, etc.
These medical SMA devices rely on the property of shape memory to achieve their desired effects. That is to say, they rely on the fact that when an SMA element is cooled to its martensitic state and is subsequently deformed, it will retain its new shape; but when it is warmed to its austenitic state, the original shape will be recovered.
However, the use of the shape memory effect in medical applications is attended with two principal disadvantages. First, it is difficult to control the transformation temperatures of shape memory alloys with accuracy as they are usually extremely composition-sensitive, although various techniques have been proposed (including the blending by powder metallurgy of already-made alloys of differing transformation temperatures: see Fountain et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,310,354). Second, in many shape memory alloys there is a large hysteresis as the alloy is transformed between austenitic and martensitic states, so that reversing of the state of an SMA element may require a temperature excursion of several tens of degrees Celsius. The combination of these factors with the limitation that (a) it is inconvenient to have to engage in any temperature manipulation, and (b) human tissue cannot be heated or cooled beyond certain relatively, narrow limits (approximately 0.degree.-60.degree. C. for short periods) without suffering temporary or permanent damage is expected to limit the use that can be made of SMA medical devices. It would thus be desirable to develop a way in which the advantageous property of shape memory alloys, i.e. their ability to return to an original shape after relatively substantial deformation, could be used in medical devices without requiring the delicacy of alloying control and/or the temperature control of placement or removal needed by present shape memory alloy devices.